


It Comes Back To You

by xanavici



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, I just want them to be happy, M/M, McHanzo Week, Young Hanzo Shimada, Young Jesse McCree, good old man tears, time skip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 17:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8905387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xanavici/pseuds/xanavici
Summary: A short story about how Jesse and Hanzo found each other, lost each other, and found each other again.ORMcHanzo Week Day One Submission - First TimeFirst Meeting, First "I love you", First Reunion





	

**Author's Note:**

> I literally thought of this at 2 am on Sunday and spent most of the day writing it so sorry for the lack of editing and sorry of it doesn't make sense. You can tell I was totally prepared for McHanzo Week.

Jesse hated Hanamura.  He hated how different it was from the southwest, how perfect and beautiful the city was, and how he actually liked the city, just like Reyes said he would.  Four weeks ago Reyes sent him here on vacation, but knowing that Jesse would never agree to go on vacation, he called the trip a “recon and intel gathering mission”.  Jesse saw right through that bullshit story but Reyes still made him go and there was no way he was going to argue with the man who saved him from a long prison sentence.  So Jesse packed his bags and headed to the small city on the hill.

Hanamura was absolutely beautiful in the middle of summer.  Warm but not sweltering like New Mexico was, and the synthetic sakura trees were in full bloom making the city look alive with color.  Then there was the people.  Most of the citizens Jesse came across were friendly enough to help a foreign cowboy that knew limited Japanese get around the city.  Jesse really fell in love with them, and he grew especially fond of one specific man.

He met Hanzo his third day in Hanamura.  They accidentally collided outside a large arcade when Jesse was too focused on trying to read a map to see where he was going.  Any apology Jesse was preparing to say died in his mouth when he looked up and saw the beautiful man.  In all of his brilliance, Jesse instead gave the man a cheesy pick up line and one of his iconic grins that got him in and out of lots of trouble in the past.  The man just blinked owlishly for a couple seconds then scowled before getting up and walking off with someone who looked like his brother.

They met again two days later in a downtown market.  Jesse gave him another cheesy one-liner and threw in a ‘sweetheart’ for good measure.  The other man grew flustered and quickly turned around and walked back the direction he came from.  He didn’t scowl this time so Jesse took that as a good sign.

Three days later they met again but this time it was the mystery man who gave Jesse a pickup line.  Jesse was eating a delicious bowl of he wasn’t sure exactly what at the Rikimaru ramen shop.  He looked up from his bowl then someone cleared their throat right new to him and he saw the man who had been haunting his dreams.  Someone must have taught him the puck up line because it sounded awkward and he messed it up a little, but it was the cutest thing Jesse ever saw, so he smiled and flirted right back.

Jesse quickly learned that the man’s name was Hanzo –no last name, just Hanzo.  He learned that Hanzo’s favorite food was daifuku, that the small man could hold his own in a fight without breaking a sweat, and his favorite place to go in Hanamura was a little lake just outside of the city limits that no one else ever went to.  Their meetings went from every couple of days to almost every day and went from walking around the city to making out in the dark corner of the arcade.  The first time Jesse made Hanzo laugh he knew he wanted to make Hanzo laugh like that for the rest of their lives.  The first time Jesse took Hanzo back to his hotel room, he couldn’t figure out how he was going to let Hanzo go.

At the end of four weeks, Jesse knew that somehow he was in love, and he was pretty sure Hanzo felt the same way.  Of course that’s when life caught back up to him.

“Hey boss,” Jesse said cheerfully to Reyes during their weekly check in call.

“Hey _chico_ , how’s Hanamura?”

“Oh ya know, same as the last time ya called.  Saw a couple’a real pretty sights this week.”  Jesse thinks back to the dragon tattoo on Hanzo’s arm and the smooth, perfect skin he had marked up with bruises and bite marks.

“Good, sounds like you finally learned how to relax.”

“Yea boss.  Can’t believe I still got three more weeks of this.  I gotta say, this ‘recon mission’ was a great idea.”

The line is silent for a couple seconds and Jesse sits up on his bed worryingly.

“Boss?  Everythin’ okay?”

“Not exactly _mijo_.  I’m sorry to do this but you aren’t going to get those three weeks.  Overwatch’s got a huge mission coming together and they’re calling in everyone, even Blackwatch.”

“No, boss, you can’t be serious.  You said I had seven weeks.  I can’t leave yet!”  Jesse cringed when he said that, luckily Reyes said nothing about him using the word ‘can’t’.

“I’m sorry _mijo_ , a ship’s picking you up tomorrow morning at the pickup location.”

Reyes hangs up on his end and after a couple minutes Jesse hangs up his phone too.  This is his last night with Hanzo.  He isn’t ready for it.  He knew that he wasn’t going to be here forever but he had been preparing for 3 more weeks until he had to say goodbye.

Hanzo knows something is wrong as soon as Jesse opens the door to his room.  Jesse can also tell something is wrong with Hanzo but first he tells Hanzo he has to leave in the morning.  Jesse can’t tell what Hanzo thinks about that as his face gives nothing away.  Finally Hanzo tells Jesse his own bad news.  His father started noticing his absences at home and is limiting his ability to leave.  The only he was able to sneak out tonight was because his brother covered for him.  He probably wouldn’t be able to see Jesse again even if he wasn’t leaving tomorrow.  Both men stand there in silence, trying to accept that this is the last time they’ll see each other.  Jesse is the first to move.  He kisses Hanzo tenderly and tries to put all the words he wants to say into that kiss.

That night they ignore that plans they made earlier and instead spend the remaining time they have together memorizing everything about each other.  From the way their voices sound, to the way they touch, to the cadence of their laughs, to the exact color of their eyes.

In the morning Jesse is pleasantly surprised to see Hanzo still in his bed, sleeping peacefully.  Jesse carefully extracts himself from Hanzo’s arms and starts packing up all of his belongings.  A pair of arms snaking around his waist distracts him as he is close to finishing up.  Jesse turns around and looks down at the man he has fallen so hard for.  Hanzo’s face might not give anything away but his eyes tell a whole other story.  Jesse can see the adoration they hold, as well as the sadness that haunts him.

“I wanna give ya something,” Jesse says.  He unties the red kerchief around his neck and reties it around Hanzo’s.  “So you’ll remember me.  But I’m gonna want that back next time we see each other.”

“Next time?”

“Yea.  The universe is cruel, I know that better than most, but sometimes, when it really matters, it can be kind and cut people like us a break.  So yea, I do believe we’ll see each other again someday.”

“I want to give you something too then.”  Hanzo pulls away from Jesse to go pick up the gold ribbon he usually has in his hair.  He loops the fabric and ties it around Jesse’s wrist with a snug knot.  They kiss again, the usual heat of desire is instead replaced the need to connect just one more time.  Hanzo helps Jesse finish packing and all too soon it’s time for them to part ways for the last time.

“Hanzo, Darlin’, I need ta tell ya something.  I need ya to know that this last month was the best thing ta ever happen ta me, that’ll never forget what we have.  I need you to know that I l-“

“Do not say it,” Hanzo cuts Jesse off.  “Do not say it because if you do, I will say it back, and letting you go will be too hard.”

Jesse just nods and pulls Hanzo into a tight hug, mainly to hide the tears forming in his eyes.  He manages to blink them away before they pull apart and he gives Hanzo one last chase kiss on the forehead.

Jesse nearly turns around eight separate times on the walk to the drop ship.  He nearly makes the pilot turn around five more times.

Jesse never thought he was much of a crier.  You weren’t allowed to in Deadlock, and it’s a hard habit to break.  He’s only broken down once and that was in front of Reyes in the privacy of his commander’s office.  But as the jump ship flies father and farther away from Japan, Jesse can’t help the tears that fall from his eyes and the sobs that escape his mouth.  When the ship lands Jesse will clear away any evidence of his break down and pretend that is never happened, but for now he lets himself mourn losing the man he loves.

 

* * *

 

*** 15 years later ***

 

“I am glad you decided to come, anija.  I think you will do well here.  And I can’t wait for you to meet my friends, they are very excited to meet you and I promise they hold no hard feelings against you.”

Hanzo replies with a short grunt.  He’s still trying to come to terms with the fact that his brother is alive and talking with him.  And while he is sure his brother tells the truth, he is still not expecting to be welcomed with open arms.  At least the Watchpoint is nice enough.  Genji already showed him around the base and he met a couple of agents.  They were nice but Hanzo could feel the tension in the air.  An awkward silence falls between the brothers, something that happens very often lately.

“I like your bandanna, though I don’t remember you wearing it in Hanamura,” Genji says, trying to keep a conversation alive.

“Thank you.  I did not want it to be damaged during the fight, it was a gift from a friend,” Hanzo says softly as he fingers the kerchief around his neck.

The square of cloth has been the one constant in his life since that summer fifteen years ago.  He had to take it off and hide it when he was on the castle grounds but he frequently took it out when he was along whenever he needed comfort or just wanted to remember the man who stole his heart.  Feeling unworthy of the love it represents, he nearly left it the night he fled the castle after the battle with Genji, but for some reason he was unable to let it go.  Over the years the red kerchief helped protect him during the harsh winters and stopped the bleeding of wounds.  These days it is dirty, bloody, frayed, and torn, but Hanzo won’t part with it for the world.

“Hmm, I have a friend who used to wear something like that years ago.”  Genji says absentmindedly.  “You’ll actually meet him today.  He’s a little… different… but Jesse’s one of the best men I know.”

Hanzo snaps his head around to look at Genji.

“Jesse?”

Hanzo knows that his Jesse is most likely not the same person as Genji’s Jesse but the mention of the name still makes him stop.  Before he can question him, Genji is pulling him through a door into the cafeteria.  Inside stand a woman with short brown hair, talking a mile a minute, an actual gorilla wearing glasses, and a tall man wearing a very familiar hat and a larger version of the kerchief Hanzo wears.

“Lena, Winston, Jesse, I want you to meet my brother, H-“

“Hanzo…” Jesse interrupts when he turns around.  He locks eyes with Hanzo and the archer is taken back to the first time they met.  How Jesse knocked him over and gave him that stupid pick up line.  How Hanzo was so sure that a handsome man like Jesse would only be interested in him as a joke so Hanzo responded with a sneer.

“Yea,” Genji says.  “How did you know that?”

Hanzo doesn’t give him an answer.  He instead walks towards Jesse who does the same.  The walk quickly turns into a run and the two wrap each other in bone crushing hugs when they meet in the middle of the room.  Somewhere in the back of his mind, Hanzo knows this behavior makes no sense to anyone else but he’s too focused on his cowboy to care.  They pull apart just enough to kiss and Hanzo feels like he can breathe for the first time in years.  They only pull away when both are gasping for breath.  Hanzo finally takes a good look at Jesse and sees how the years have aged him.  His small patch of beard now grows wild across his whole face.  Crow’s feet line tired eyes.  Hanzo looks down and sees unfamiliar metal fingers entangled with his own.  His heart nearly stops when he sees a weathered, but familiar looking, golden ribbon wrapped around the metal wrist.

“You still have it.”

“Course I do Darlin’, and ya still have mine.”

“Oh Jesse,” Hanzo breaths as he buries his face in Jesse’s neck.  His eyes are starting to water and he couldn’t care less.

“I told ya sweetheart.  When it counts, sometimes the universe is kind.”

Hanzo freezes when he hears that old quote.  The universe wasn’t kind when it came to his battle with Genji.  Suddenly Hanzo is reminded how much he has changed and all of the terrible things he did.  He remembers how he isn’t worthy of this love anymore.  Jesse seems to know exactly what Hanzo is thinking and tries to back track on his words, but Hanzo is already muttering an apology and running out of the room.

Hanzo runs until he finds himself on the roof of some building, he’s not exactly sure which one.  He doesn’t know how long he sits there until he hears someone walking towards him.  The heavy footsteps and clinking of spurs let him know its Jesse.  The cowboy doesn’t say anything when he sits down, just lights up a cigarillo and puffs on it.  A noticeable improvement over the cigarettes he used to smoke, Hanzo thinks.  Jesse finally talks when he finishes his cigarillo.

“Ya know, I’m not the same man either.  I’ve done plenty of fucked up shit, shit that’s gonna keep me up fer the rest of my life.  An’ there were somedays where I couldn’t look at yer ribbon ‘cause I felt like I was disrespectin’ it somehow.”  Jesse falls silent again takes a death breath.  Hanzo just continues to look out over the sea.

“What I’m tryin’ ta say is that I know what yer feelin’ right now, an’ I know how hard it is ta stop feelin’ like that.  I would like nothin’ more than ta pick right back up where we left up, but I understand that ya might not be able ta right now, an’ maybe not ever.  But no matter what, whether we go back ta what we had or we jus’ stay friends, I’ll be right here waitin’ fer ya.”

A sob escapes from Hanzo; he can’t understand why Jesse is saying such things.

“Why, Jesse?  Why would you wait for someone like me?  Why would you do so much for me despite what I have done?”

“That’s simple, sugar.  I love ya.  Ya wouldn’t let me say it last time so I gotta say it now.  I love ya and I’ll always love ya.”

More sobs escape from Hanzo and he lets Jesse pull him into a tight embrace.  By the time Hanzo gets his crying under control, Jesse’s shirt is soaked.

“Jesse?”

“Yea, Darlin’?”

“Is it a bad thing if I still love you too?”

“No honey, it ain’t.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr at: cryptidhanzoshimada


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